STRESSED BRAINS CAN’T LEARN: PAPER TIGERS, A DOCUMENTARY FILM BY JAMES REDFORD ON TRAUMA-INFORMED EDUCATION, will be screened as part of THE SUMMER INSTITUTE 2016.

Join in the one day seminar at either:

York County Community Action in Sanford on Wednesday, June 23rd

-or-

Connections for Kids in South Portland on Thursday, June 29th

As part of the 2016 SUMMER INSTITUTE Kids Free to Grow is hosting a screening of Paper Tigers, a film that captures the pain, danger, beauty and hopes of struggling teens—and the teachers armed with new science and fresh approaches that are changing lives for the better.

The documentary film, directed by James Redford and Executive Produced by Karen Pritzker, will be screened on June 23rd at York County Community Action and on June 29th at Connections for Kids and is open to the public, though tickets must be reserved in advance.

Paper Tigers is an intimate look into the lives of selected students at Lincoln High School, an alternative school that specializes in educating traumatized youth. Set amidst the struggling rural community of Walla Walla, WA, the film intimately examines the inspiring promise of Trauma-Informed Communities – a movement that is showing great promise in healing youth struggling with the dark legacy of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Following six students over the course of a school year, we see Lincoln’s staff try a new approach to discipline: one based on understanding and treatment rather than judgment and suspension. Using a combination of verite and revealing diary cam footage, Paper Tigers is a testament to what the latest developmental science is showing: that just one caring adult can help break the cycle of adversity in a young person’s life. The film is directed and produced by James Redford with executive producer Karen Pritzker through KPJR Films, LLC. The film premiered on May 28, 2015 at the Seattle International Film Festival.

Kid Free to Grow Staff will start the day with a Safe Sleep Presentation and Child Abuse Prevention updates. The Paper Tigers video will be viewed and will be followed by a staff led panel discussion with audience participation. We are very excited to screen Paper Tigers as part of our annual professional training. Adverse Childhood Experiences impact many York and Cumberland County children. Teaching staff need to learn more about trauma-informed care and brain development in order to assist our children to become successful adults.

Screening Details:Date: Thursday, June 23rd in Sanford, Maine OR Thursday, June 29th in South Portland, MaineTime: 8:30am to 3pmLocation: York County Community Action building on the 23rd and Connections for Kids on the 29th.

James Redford, Director and Producer, makes documentaries that transform important health and environmental issues into stories that educate and inspire. With nine films to date, he’s journeyed far and deep, looking at issues such as water shortage in the west, dyslexia, the dangers of chemical flame retardants as well as why and how chronic stress damages healthy childhood development. Inspired by his own life-saving liver transplant at the age of 30, his first HBO documentary, The Kindness of Strangers explored the hidden heroism of donor families. In his most recent HBO film, HAPPENING – his fifth for HBO – James takes us on an oft humorous “Clean Energy tour for Dummies’” that opens the door to new solutions and real hope. James started his collaboration with Karen Pritzker on HBO’s The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia, a film that gave hope to millions of families around the world who have struggled to educate their dyslexic children. From there, they turned their story-telling eye on the hidden menace of adverse childhood experiences. Paper Tigers, currently on the festival and screening circuit, will air on PIVOT TV near the end of 2015. James also co-founded and is current Chair the Redford Center, a film production non-profit that translates complex environmental challenges into human stories that inspire. HBO’s Happening is the Center’s fourth film. Recent honors include the 2014 WildCare Environmental Award, 2015 filmmaker envoy for USC/US State Department’s American Film Showcase as well as serving the leadership circle for the UN’s second annual Media for Social Impact Summit.

Karen Pritzker, Executive Producer of Paper Tigers, is a film producer, editor and writer. She executive produced The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia, a documentary that demystified dyslexia and generated widespread awareness of this misunderstood disability. Shown on HBO in 2013, and winner of the Parents’ Choice Award, the film continues to be screened all over the world acting as a starting point for conversation and change. In addition to her film credits, Pritzker co-founded the My Hero Project, an interactive website for kids that is devoted to telling the stories of ordinary people who have accomplished extraordinary things. She is also President of Seedlings Foundation.